Sunday launch prompts family flutters

Racegoers seemed to welcome the chance to bet on-course on the Sabbath for the first time yesterday, but business in off-course betting shops was light.

A crowd of 20,000 ventured to Newmarket - the same as for Saturday's 2,000 Guineas and nearly double the attendance for the 1,000 Guineas staged on Thursday a year ago. Salisbury, the other track where racing took place yesterday, pulled in a highly satisfactory 8,000 for the ground-breaking day.

Bettings shops reported business to be more on a par with a weekday than with a Saturday, with the high points at noon - when the shops opened - and just before the Guineas.

With families helping to boost the attendances at both racecourses, on- course bookmakers reported a string of small wagers.

Neal Wilkins, the Press Association's chief starting price reporter, said: "The bookmakers were seeing the punters who like a £2 flutter - there were lots of little bets. They are different to the types you see on Saturday that like to have huge sums on horses.''

Nick Lees, the clerk of the course at Newmarket, said: "The crowd is between 84 and 90 per cent up on 1,000 Guineas day last year. That makes it a great success. People are enjoying themselves a lot.

"It has been a wonderful day for Newmarket and a very exciting start to Sunday racing."